Publication
The little book of white lies
Maybe just one more?
READY FOR CHANGE?
Understanding why you may have put on weight can help you workout how to lose it ... and to make sure you maintain your new, healthier weight, and a more active life.
Which reasons apply to you?
• You’ve gradually become less active, maybe because your routine has changed, maybe because you’ve ‘slowed down’ as you’ve become older.
• You’ve tended to snack, rather than eat at mealtimes (or as well as eating at mealtimes) and the snacks you choose are high in calories/fat.
• The foods and drinks you choose tend to be high in calories/fat.
• Your alcohol consumption has increased.
Being overweight is a complex issue. If it was easy to lose weight, or not to gain it in the first place, we’d all be the ‘right’ weight ... but eating and drinking is far more than just a way to stay alive. We use food to celebrate, to soothe, to feel good, to relieve boredom, to reward ourselves for being ‘good’ and to comfort ourselves when we feel ‘bad’.
Thinking about the roles food and drink play in your own life can help you work out ways to change your choices. Talk to other people, or to the health professional helping you. Write down when you eat, and what you eat, over a period of several days.
Think of alternatives you could have chosen. If you always have chocolate biscuits when watching TV, can you replace the plate with the fruit bowl? Is there something else you can give yourself as a treat when you’re home from work, instead of a bag of microwavable chips?